How Troy Aikman Became One Of the NFL’s Most Powerful People

Nov 17, 2022

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Hey Friends,

Troy Aikman is undoubtedly one of the NFL’s most influential people.

He was the first overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and recently signed a five-year, $90 million deal with ESPN to join their Monday Night Football broadcast team (alongside Joe Buck).

Highest Paid Sports Broadcasters (Annually)

Troy Aikman & Tony Romo: $18 million
Kirk Herbstreit: $16.5 million
Joe Buck & Al Michaels: $15 million
Stephen A. Smith: $12 million
Jim Nantz: $10.5 million

Fun Fact: Troy Aikman’s $18 million annual salary from ESPN is more than 97% of active NFL players will make this year, including Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Mike Evans, Jalen Ramsey, and Khalil Mack.

But these are things that everyone seems to know about Troy, and I would argue that his 30 years of experience around the NFL (as a player, broadcaster, businessman, and ambassador for the league) has helped him develop an incredibly unique perspective.

So for this week’s podcast, I flew to Philadelphia and sat down with Troy for 45 minutes before Monday Night Football — and we discussed everything:

How he made the transition from NFL player to star broadcaster
Why he left Fox for ESPN after twenty years with the network
His skepticism around Fox’s $375 million offer to Tom Brady
What a typical week of MNF preparation looks like
His concerns about the NFL’s future, both domestically and abroad
His latest business venture as co-founder of Eight Brewing Co.

Heck, we even talked about what it was like to own a minority stake in the San Diego Padres and Troy’s interest in eventually running an NFL team.

So check it out on Apple, Spotify, or the YouTube link below. I think you guys are really going to enjoy it!

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